Monday, August 09, 2021

The Birdwoman of Capistrano


Today’s journey of the Mission at San Juan Capistrano begins with an establishing shot (so cinematic) of the entrance, circa 1957. Love the vintage auto in the middle! Looks like someone drove all the way from Virginia to see the Mission.


The next few shots came from a batch of vintage images where the family actually wrote on the cardboard mount with dates and other helpful info. My kind of peeps! 

This one is “Mom and Sis, 1954.”


From May 26, 1955: “Sis and May in the Courtyard of the Mission.”


Same date: “Sis and Her Friends.” Sis doesn’t look to comfortable.


This one is labeled, “Sis feeding the Swallows, May 26, 1955.” Someone should tell Sis that these aren’t swallows. They look more like pigeons or doves. Bird experts?


This one is “Sis and Her ‘Burds.’” Apparently, “Burd” is a slang word meaning a female woman or girl. The things I learn here…incredible.


Same day, a different pose. This one is Six and Moxie .


From another batch of vintage images comes this shot of two maidens at the Mission from 1952.


Zooming in for a closer view:


In case you were wondering, the statue of St. Junipero Serra is still there:


But…it has been moved inside to the Sala Building in June 2020 as a precaution to prevent vandalism. How sad that after eighty years in the same place, the statue is no longer safe from stupidity.

See more San Juan Capistrano photos at my main website.

2 comments:

Fifthrider said...

Sad that it has to be moved, wise that they moved it. 2020 wasn't a good year to be a statue. You're correct about the birds, swallows are smaller and blue backs with white chests. These white birds are the common freeloader known as "pigeon."

Daveland said...

Funny (and sad) how these times make us all feel like going indoors for safety!